Shouldn't Dollar Tree Have Done Better During the COVID-19 Lockdown?

While Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) did see an 8% rise in first-quarter sales on a robust 15.5% increase in comparable store sales at its Family Dollar chain, the results were not nearly as good as you might guess. Dollar Tree faced a lot of troubles heading into the pandemic, particularly trying to turn around the Family Dollar business, which has been a five-year long drain on its performance following its acquisition. Dollar Tree also blamed the pandemic for affecting its Easter sales, which it said alone affected the chain's comps by 490 basis points.